Valencia, Spain?

[Ed Rooney]

My vote too, Norm. 

 

I have been worrying and researching many places since I was in Mexico and began to understand that my building in NYC was not going to open again soon . . . and maybe not open at all. Seville is the first destination of many that I have felt enthusiastic about and had a desire for. I hope I do not not come across an unsolvable impediment. 

[NYCat]

Good luck with it. I think it’s great for stock. Their Semana Santa is fabulous. 

 

Paulette

[John Mitchell]

Seville / Sevilla sounds like an excellent choice. Reading these posts makes me want to visit, if only for the falafel.

 

Fortunately, there are lots of good falafel  joints in Vancouver, Montreal as well, so I won't have to cross the Atlantic just yet to indulge my addiction.

 

Good luck. Hopefully no insurmountable obstacles pop up.

 

 

 

 

[Ed Rooney]

LOL They were offering falafel at my local cafe today. I had their pancakes with mixed fresh fruit, like below.

 

I've said some nice things about Dumbo, Brooklyn, San Miguel de Allende, and Montreal. I like them all, but I've not felt a desire to settle in any of them. Seville is a large walkable city with history and a mix of the old and modern, and it has all the other things on my list. Sure, it will be too hot in summer. I hope I can make the details work. 

 

Say a little prayer for me if you're religious. If not, toss a coin in some fountain. It doesn't have to be the Trevi.

 

 

 

 

[John Mitchell]

Well, maybe for lunch then. Keep us posted.

 

[Betty LaRue]

5 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

Did you get an ID of whatever it was sitting on that slice of bread? 

 

Lol, Edo, it kind of looks like an oyster on the half-shell to me.

[Ed Rooney]

I don't know. I thought I saw it move.

[Martin P Wilson]

12 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

My vote too, Norm. 

 

I have been worrying and researching many places since I was in Mexico and began to understand that my building in NYC was not going to open again soon . . . and maybe not open at all. Seville is the first destination of many that I have felt enthusiastic about and had a desire for. I hope I do not not come across an unsolvable impediment. 

 

The downside of Sevilla may be that you will get a stream of Alamy contributors visiting as it is such a great p[lace to visit inexpensively for those of us who are Europe based.

 

Good luck with it, I think it would be a good move. I could be tempted but the other half would resist

 

Edo, my daughter, Alex, is very happy to answer any questions she can about Seville. She lived there on a pretty limited income for several years until she moved to Vietnam a few years ago (3?). I will send you her email address privately.

[Martin P Wilson]

30 minutes ago, geogphotos said:

Isn't Seville famous for being particularly hot in summer?

 

Mean monthly temperature reaches mid-30s  Celsius in summer but of course it will exceed that occasionally. Mind you it gets almost that hot, and more humid, in NYC in August as I recall.  However Sevilla has an oceanic climate so the extremes are moderated by the seas (it is about 100km inland from the Atlantic helped by the prevailing wind), see link:

 

http://www.seville.climatemps.com/

 

I think it is probably hotter further east and inland.

 

 

[spacecadet]

16 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

Touristy, Mark? Have you ever been to Mulberry Street in NYC? That's 110% touristy.

 

Did you get an ID of whatever it was sitting on that slice of bread? 

It's a mussel montadito, Ed.

Actually that was at El Uno de San Roman. The León is slightly plainer. Probably more of a breakfast place.

If you love bulls enough to eat them, El Uno does oxtail. They don't muck about with fancy wine glasses either.

[Ed Rooney]

San Roman seems to have closed permanently, Mark. It happens.

 

I've been looking at furnished rentals in Santa Cruz, which is the dead center in the old city. SC is a possibility, a nearby area would work too. 

 

When I drove from Madrid to Salamanca and other central cities, I was unhappy with the amount of meat they ate. In my mind, I think they served me meat with a meat sauce and meat on the side. I'm not a vegetarian, understand, but I'm conservative about my meat consumption. 

[wiskerke]

36 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

San Roman seems to have closed permanently, Mark. It happens.

 

I've been looking at furnished rentals in Santa Cruz, which is the dead center in the old city. SC is a possibility, a nearby area would work too. 

 

When I drove from Madrid to Salamanca and other central cities, I was unhappy with the amount of meat they ate. In my mind, I think they served me meat with a meat sauce and meat on the side. I'm not a vegetarian, understand, but I'm conservative about my meat consumption. 

 

We stayed around the South end of the Alameda de Hercules. A little less touristy, but good infrastructure. Covered market nearby on Calle Feria; a good supermarket and some smaller ones nearby and lots of good tapas bars (Eslava!) within crawling walking distance.

About 15 minutes to the cathedral.

Friends have recommended the other side of the river as a cheap and quiet alternative. Wider and brighter streets, some with trees.

Btw I could live in Seville in winter and spring, but probably not in summer. OTOH in DC we also got into the 100s once in a while. Still different from 3 months in the high 90s like Seville.

Malaga is better, but our (British) relatives still had to flee to the hills 2 months ago.

Train from Malaga to Seville is around Eur 25 for the slow 2.5 h one and Eur 45 for the 2 hour fast one. Bus is Eur 17, but takes 4 hours.

To Cordoba it's Eur 40 for the fast 50 minute one and Eur 28 for the slow 1 hour one. Not sure about the bus, I think around Eur 15 for 2.5 hours.

Friends of ours usually travel up and down the coast by bus, staying a couple of days or weeks in each stop. They only take the train for day trips from Malaga.

 

The train from Seville to Cordoba is just over 40 minutes and costs Eur 30.  Or a slow one for Eur 20 which takes a whopping 45 minutes. The bus is around 12.50 for 2 to 2.5 hours.

 

wim

 

 

 

[John Mitchell]

7 hours ago, geogphotos said:

Isn't Seville famous for being particularly hot in summer?

 

Pretty soon just about everywhere is going to be famous for being particularly hot in the summer.

[John Mitchell]

1 hour ago, Ed Rooney said:

San Roman seems to have closed permanently, Mark. It happens.

 

I've been looking at furnished rentals in Santa Cruz, which is the dead center in the old city. SC is a possibility, a nearby area would work too. 

 

When I drove from Madrid to Salamanca and other central cities, I was unhappy with the amount of meat they ate. In my mind, I think they served me meat with a meat sauce and meat on the side. I'm not a vegetarian, understand, but I'm conservative about my meat consumption. 

 

I'm on the side of the bulls. It's not nice what they do to them. I'm stickin' with falafel, thanks.

 

P.S. I also don't like rodeos, factory farms, cramped zoos, or dolphins and whales kept in swimming pools for our entertainment. But that's just me...

[Ed Rooney]

Incidentally, John -- the area between Madrid and Salamanca is where they breed some of the top fighting bulls. 

 

Thanks for the neighborhood info, Wim. Walking around on the Google Map street view is more tiring that walking actual streets.

[NYCat]

I stayed in the Barrio de Santa Cruz for a ridiculously low price when I visited. It is the old Jewish quarter and as charming as you can get. There was virtually no tourism there at that time because people were boycotting Franco so maybe now that neighborhood is commanding higher prices.

 

I have what may be a ridiculous suggestion to try with your uploading problems. What if you tried to upload from a different computer? Use a thumb drive or something to bring your images over and then proceed from there. If you could upload from a different machine that would seem to suggest that it is your Mac that Alamy isn't recognizing and if you still can't upload it would seem that it has to do with your account -- not the Mac. You do have a special relationship this year because of your disaster and it seems unlikely that should affect your uploads but maybe it has made a difference. I think Alamy should help you with this and maybe having more information would help.

 

Paulette

[John Mitchell]

41 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

Incidentally, John -- the area between Madrid and Salamanca is where they breed some of the top fighting bulls. 

 

Thanks for the neighborhood info, Wim. Walking around on the Google Map street view is more tiring that walking actual streets.

 

Actually, the bulls seem to be winning. I'm confident that they will in the end. We humans are evolving in spite of ourselves.

 

But I digress (as usual). Back to Sevilla...

 

P.S. Photographing protesters at bullfights -- good fodder for stock photos I'd say.

[Normspics]

1 hour ago, John Mitchell said:

 

I'm on the side of the bulls. It's not nice what they do to them. I'm stickin' with falafel, thanks.

 

P.S. I also don't like rodeos, factory farms, cramped zoos, or dolphins and whales kept in swimming pools for our entertainment. But that's just me...

 

+1

[Ed Rooney]

As a PJ, I've covered wars and riots I didn't approve of.  I'm not an aficionado, but I'm not going to get into a debate about bullfighting in this forum. I've already said what I had to say about it in past posts. 

 

Paulette, I have considered all that. I have to go into town to get a thumb drive. I've been busy with other things. 

 

 

[Betty LaRue]

2 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

I'm on the side of the bulls. It's not nice what they do to them. I'm stickin' with falafel, thanks.

 

P.S. I also don't like rodeos, factory farms, cramped zoos, or dolphins and whales kept in swimming pools for our entertainment. But that's just me...

+1

[Normspics]

Forgot to say when I was there the sky was a deep blue colour similar to Southern Portugal, goes a long way with stock photography! and a sense of well being.

[MDM]

Sevilla does have incredibly hot summers as does southern Spain in general. It would not be my choice for permanent living because of the summer heat. 

 

In fact, the best climate in Spain is not in mainland Spain at all, it's got to be the Canary Islands. There is a huge variation in climate within and between individual islands but southern Tenerife and Gran Canaria have very pleasant climates most of the year. July and August can be a bit hot (often the low 30s, more rarely in the high 30s) but very often in the mid to high 20s. The winters in the south of these islands are very mild and heating is not necessary in general which is a bonus in terms of cost of living. The more elevated parts of these islands have much cooler winters and the northern parts near sea level can have a lot of cloud cover and tend to be cooler than the southern areas. It is easy to escape the touristy areas in Tenerife and there are some incredible volcanic landscapes.

 

Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are closest to mainland Africa and also have wonderful climates but are too desert-like for my taste for permanent living. Fantastic places to visit though. 

 

La Palma is a wonderful island, much less touristy than the aforementioned and very much like being in Spain (reasonable Spanish is essential). La Gomera and El Hierro are also wonderful but too small for my taste for permanent living. 

[MDM]

Are you saying there is a correlation between staying in the same place and longevity (and wisdom)? I think I would be clinically insane if I had stayed in my village (Dublin) all my life. One of my earliest and best memories was travelling to West Cork and seeing mountains for the first time. And I would never have met my lovely (English) wife if I had never left Ireland. One man's wisdom ......

[Martin P Wilson]

3 hours ago, Normspics said:

Forgot to say when I was there the sky was a deep blue colour similar to Southern Portugal, goes a long way with stock photography! and a sense of well being.

 

Same sky for me in the first week of November. I have never previously celebrated my birthday in such glorious weather (2 Nov).

 

For me if a place appears on recommended bucket lists, or evn on more than one friend's list, it is a place to avoid! Sadly mass tourism destroys what drew people there in the first place; as travel photographers we are part of that problem I am afraid.

[Ed Rooney]

Talked to a 92 year old woman on the Italian island of Giglio once. She lived in the tiny mountain village and said she'd never been down to the port, 10 minutes away by car. Different strokes for differant folks. 

 

Hot or not, Seville is still the strongest possibility.